page contents
You are here: Home / Archives for Decks And Porches / Decks

Henry Thoreau’s Last house ~ Final Day

May 27, 2009 Written by Robert Robillard 2 Comments

The last part of this project involved repairing rot at the screen porch door. As a result of rot I chose to replace the entire door jamb with 2 by cedar material.There was also structural rot in the framing that was repaired earlier. See small patch between door jamb and step railing.The cedar jamb supports a screen panel above. The top of the jamb was sloped 15 degrees to shed any wind driven rain.The seam of the door jamb and the screen porch … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decks, Home Repairs And Remodeling, Past Projects

Repairing A Mahogany Deck

May 18, 2009 Written by Robert Robillard 2 Comments

Repairing A Mahogany Deck on a historic house: Today my main goal was to finish screwing down the 1x4 mahogany decking. I have been using 2 1/2" self drilling stainless steel screws and pre-drilling all the butt joints. The downspout drain pipe shown in the corner runs through the deck and into a dry well pipe below. It never lined up properly because of the distance between the two pipes. To make the downspout drain better and more … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decks, Home Repairs And Remodeling, Past Projects

Repairing a Rotting Deck

May 12, 2009 Written by Robert Robillard 2 Comments

Repairing a Rotting Deck: at Henry David Thoreau's Historic Home Day 2 involved addressing the rotted corner board and damaged clapboards. the corner boards were removed back to the nearest joint. Although sometimes necessary, I dislike installing small or short patches of trim and always opt for breaking boards back to the nearest joint if possible. We attempted to slip strips of tar paper under the claps to provide better weather … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decks, Home Repairs And Remodeling

Rebuilding a Rotted Deck

May 7, 2009 Written by Robert Robillard 2 Comments

Rebuilding a Rotted Deck: What Would Henry David Say? On my current project I am very privileged to be able to work on this magnificent and historical home.  Henry David Thoreau's "Last House." The house plaque reads: Henry David Thoreau: Died May 6, 1862, in this house which later became the home of the Alcott family. We will be remodeling an existing deck in the rear of this house. The current decking had 1x4 fir … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decks, Home Repairs And Remodeling

Deck Building Basics

April 8, 2009 Written by Robert Robillard Leave a Comment

Source: www.decks.com Components Of A Well Built Deck Many decks are constructed with too few fasteners, weak deck to house connections or are improperly flashed and rot prematurely. Around the country, hundreds of people are injured by failing decks and in almost every case the decks collapse because inadequate fastening allows them to pull away from buildings.  Deck building basics are discussed in this article.  Image: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decks, Home Repairs And Remodeling, Home Safety

Build A Privacy Screen

January 30, 2009 Written by Robert Robillard 1 Comment

Constructing a Cedar Privacy Screen The picture below is the rooftop patio at the Winchester Condo project we have been working on. Our client wanted us to build a privacy screen to block the view but still allow in light. I decided to construct the new screen out of high quality 1" thick cedar and cedar components. The screen will be installed a few inches off the copper 1/2 wall and run from the wood privacy screen fence on the left to the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decks, Past Projects

Privacy Screen for Deck

January 23, 2009 Written by Robert Robillard 2 Comments

How to Build A Cedar Privacy Screen The Privacy Screen for Deck installation went well and the client was pleased with the finished product. BEFORE PHOTO AFTER PHOTO After 1 hour of shoveling 14" of snow, pouring hot water and chopping an inch of ice we finally made it down to the decking.  we build our privacy panels in the shop and transported them to the jobsite.  See how we made these panels. First order of business was to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decks, Design, Past Projects

Recent Project ~ Carlisle

November 19, 2008 Written by Robert Robillard Leave a Comment

This picture shows three projects recently done. The large window was replaced in the Spring, the porch built in the early fall after the patio was installed and the top windows replaced today. Painting by Mark O'Lalor Painting CompanyPOSTED BY CONCORD CARPENTER … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decks, Home Repairs And Remodeling, Past Projects